INTERNATIONAL NEWS:THE CAPTAINS of England and New Zealand posed with the newly minted Edmund Hillary Shield yesterday, an aptly titled trophy given the mountainous size of England's task against the all-conquering All Blacks tomorrow. The only thing in the home side's favour is the barely concealed anger within the camp in the wake of last Saturday's 42-6 defeat by South Africa.
There is only so much John Wells, Graham Rowntree and Mike Ford can say publicly without either demoralising their own players further or being perceived as tracksuited ostriches with their heads wedged in the sand. What did come across at Twickenham yesterday, though, was a collective determination not to wallow in their predicament.
"If we go out feeling sorry for ourselves, we'll get lumped," said Rowntree. "I couldn't give a stuff about New Zealand's record. We can't go in worrying about how good they are. This is about us giving a better account of ourselves."
Nor are England treating as inevitable the prospect of a third successive loss to a side that did not concede a try, let alone lose to Scotland, Ireland or Wales.
"We're all hurt and disappointed and we've all taken last week really badly," said Wells, whose pack have conspicuously failed to provide the momentum required to destabilise Australia and South Africa.
"Yes, the scoreline doesn't lie and we were handbagged by 40-odd points. But if you look at it we weren't far away and created some cracking opportunities. If we hadn't, we'd be really worried."
Wells is conscious, however, that England are not producing as many big beasts in the tight five as they once did, making it harder to break down more experienced sides like South Africa and New Zealand.
Instead they are looking to make inroads wider afield which has not, traditionally, been England's first priority.
The snag is that funereally slow ball is easy to defend against, hence England's inability to turn possession and territory into points. It is also Wells' belief that the number of "street-wise" Springbok bodies lying around the ball was a major factor, with England unwilling to ruck them out of the way for fear of conceding the same glut of penalties that cost them against Australia.
With Richie McCaw, the king of the breakdown, now awaiting his turn, Wells has openly urged the experienced Irish referee Alain Rolland to adopt a stricter stance in an era when even a legitimate boot on a prone body causes official brows to furrow.
Wells accused the modern generation of England players of being too law-abiding - "I had one skill as a player: I knew how to cheat and cheat well" - in comparison with some of their rivals.
"South Africa came here with an experienced bunch of lads who, to me, consistently got away with being on the wrong side of the ball. Until they get pulled up, they'll get away with it. If he (Rolland) referees that side of the game for both sides, no problems. We've just got to make sure we're smart if issues do develop."
A better start and conceding fewer soft points would also help but Wells rejects the option of reverting to narrow, 10-man rugby. He is clinging to the hope that a more expansive game will ultimately bear fruit.
"We all knew we were going to be playing against three physical, battle-hardened teams, while we were going to be a young side with new coaches and new ideas . . . . We're fitting a game plan around the quality of the players we've got on the pitch at the moment."
Hence the valiant digging for positives amid the post-Springboks manure.
"We've got to get to the stage where we can give out those sort of hidings but there's going to be some pain along the way."
